Beauty and The Beast
by Luthanya2019
Summary: In an alternate universe where after Luther transforms, he runs away from the mansion. Luthanya fic.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: After Luther's transformation, he runs away from the mansion.

_Beauty and the Beast_

Chapter 1

Luther cried out in pure utter horrified agony at his transformation from man to hybrid.

"DAD! DAD!" He cried out as he ran through the mansion to his office, but he wasn't there. Commonsense was not with him when he ran to the entry hall where he continuously cried out for his father to explain this. He leaped up from the stairs and crushed the floor beneath him. He leaped himself from his own mess, bursting through the doors, not realizing that it was the middle of the day. He landed on the road, throwing cars off their travel, and people screamed at the mere sight of him.

He saw their expressions. The pure horror they had etched on their faces. He tried to blind them out, but that only enhanced his hearing of the screeching of the women and crying of the children and babes. It shattered his thoughts that he just kept running like a mad man to the shadows of the alley until he found a place to hide until it was nighttime.

He planned to return to the mansion, but as he remained hidden in the sewers, he bitterly thought about how his father could do this to him. He tried to reason with himself that his father did it to save his life.

But at the cost of this?

Turning into a freak of nature that society could possibly never accept as their own hero. Instead the children would cry and the parents would defend them from him instead of trusting him with their safety. The tears came pouring as his body shook and he whimpered at the painful stretch of his heart. He was no longer Number One.

There was no way his father could ever accept him back. That was why he was all alone in that mansion. Because they couldn't bear the sight of him. It was his fault. He made the idiotic choice during the mission he was sent on, and that led to becoming this freak. He thought to himself that perhaps he was better off dying. That way he didn't have to live on as a freak. At least in death, he could finally ask Ben for forgiveness.

That was a plan he felt himself set on, yet he didn't kill himself. Instead, he found himself spending days as a homeless person trying to decide whether to go back to the mansion or not to at least get the scolding that he owed to deserve. And perhaps his father could fix him, but what if he couldn't? Then what? What use was he then? What he became was no hero. Heroes were good-looking, and he wasn't. Not anymore.

The world wouldn't accept him. His father didn't need him.

Hope and pessimism torn at him. Yet one thing that was sure for him was his sense of justice at night. He had taken one of the police men radios secretly, and had used it to track down crime in the area he was in. He prevented and stopped robberies, murders, kidnappings and the such when he saw it. It made him famous in the papers as the mysterious big foot, so he always traveled to different parts of the city so he wasn't easily tracked down. He had once almost encountered Diego, but he was able to slip away without giving him a clue. He had found Klaus in the middle of a gang shoot-out and was able to carry him to safety.

Months had passed, and he had learned to adapt to his new life, yet one night he found a musician heading back to her apartment. A couple of thugs stopped her and she tried to dismiss them, but they began to get handsy. Luther immediately came landing from the sky before them and chucked them to the walls to be merely knocked out and bruised for a couple of weeks.

He then turned to leave, but then he heard a familiar voice, "Luther?"

He turned to the woman he just saved, and despite it being eight years since the twenty-five year olds have seen each other, Luther immediately recognized her due to her book, "Vanya?"

"Oh my gawd, it is you." Vanya whispered. "What...what happened?"

Luther felt his insecurities crawl like spiders beneath his skin. He turned and ran.

Vanya knew he should call out to him, but she was speechless. She was only able to recognize him because of the Umbrella tattoo that was on his wrist. She whispered to herself, "Luther?"

O.O.O

Vanya stood before the gates of the Umbrella Academy. Taking a step in should be simple, but it wasn't. She promised herself that she would never come back to this place ever again, and her book listed chapters of reasons she shouldn't. But Luther needed help, and the only way she could learn how was to go and talk with that man. Or at least Pogo or Grace. Hopefully it was the two of them instead.

After an hour or two or probably even more, she was able to breathe in deeply, steel her nerves, and walk inside.

Memories flooded her head, but she pushed that aside to focus on the issue at hand. Yet when she couldn't find Grace or Pogo at the entry hall or the living room, she remembered her younger self sitting on the couch and how Diego would put her down, yet Luther would walk in and reprimand him, and made sure that she was okay.

A lot of the kids wanted nothing to do with her except for Five and Luther. She was closest to Five since he didn't care much for the heirachy of the family, and she remembered envying Luther for his close position with their father, but she also felt grateful for him because he was kind. Always had been to her...

"Miss Vanya?"

The violinist turned around to see Pogo much to her relief. "Pogo."

The old ape smiled at her, "It's nice to see you again, Miss Vanya. May I ask what brings you back home?"

"Luther...What happened to him?"

Pogo frowned, "I see that you have encountered him. Ten months ago, your father had sent Master Luther on a mission that ended...for the worse. He was doomed to die, so in order to save his life, your father injected a serum made from the genetic material of my species. It was created after Ben died so as to prevent the same mistake again."

"Why haven't you been able to bring him back home?"

Pogo's frown deepened. "Master Reginald Hargreeves has been...busy at the moment."

"Busy?" Vanya's brows furrowed in deep utter bewilderment. "What do you mean busy? Luther is out there! Alone and afraid! He saved my life last night, but ran after I saw him. Pogo, Luther needs help!"

"I know, Miss Vanya, and I have been trying to locate him with the news-"

"News? You knew this whole time that Luther was still in the city, alone and afraid, and you haven't done anything?"

"Miss Vanya, your pills." Pogo pointed out. "Remember that you're supposed to take them whenever your emotions flared up or else you will suffer from complications."

Vanya took a deep breath, remembering that she had forgotten to take them after seeing Luther the night before. She did feel anxious and a bit out of order, so she should take her pills, but just not at the moment in front of Pogo. "I'm sorry. It's just...After losing Five... after losing Ben...I don't want to lose another one." She sat down on the couch to relax. Pogo sat with her as she reminisced, "Luther and I never really got to spend time together as kids since he was Number One. Whatever dad made the Umbrella academy do, Luther excelled at. Whenever the team failed, no one took it worse than Luther did." She felt the fiery in her heart die out as the more somber memories soaked her mind. "Especially after Ben died. Luther...just kinda shut down. I and maybe everyone else thought that he would in some way stand above this and move on in Ben's honor, but he never did. He didn't argue when Diego left. Couldn't stand the sight of Allison leaving. Frustrated when Klaus left to who knows where. But he never spoke up, never tried to keep the Umbrella academy together, and I guess when Ben died, a part of Luther did, too."

"He was also saddened when you left, too, Miss Vanya." Pogo informed her. "Although Luther and you hadn't spent that much time together as kids since you didn't play a part in their missions, he always kept an eye out for you. To his eyes, you were very much a part of this family as the rest of them did."

Vanya felt like in some way that was true, but not as sweetly as Pogo put it. She still felt a pinch of envy that Luther got the attention that she craved as a child, but she had always come to recognize that Luther wasn't a bad person, and she felt grateful to him.

"Thanks, Pogo. Sorry about earlier."

"No offense taken. It was nice seeing again Miss Vanya."

Vanya walked out of the place, relieved that she didn't come face to face with her so-called father. Although she felt doubt that Pogo was putting a leg in at getting Luther back since Reginald was a stubborn wall of a monster who only cared for perfection, and this Luther was no longer it.

She walked back to her apartment, planning on taking her medication in the safety of her home, but once she opened the door, she flinched when she saw something through a slit view into her apartment. Yet the sight of familiar fur made her open the door entirely to the corner near the window to see Luther sitting against the wall, panting.

"Oh my gawd. Luther!" Vanya walked over to him, and couldn't see any physical harm, but the poor man was sweating in a room chilled by the snowy weather.

She touched his forehead, only to pull it right back. "You're burning up badly. I'll call, dad."

"No!" Luther yelled out desperately, having it strain his throat. "I can't let him see me like this. Please! I can't let him see me like this."

Vanya froze at the dilemma. She knew that the smart move was to call Reginald because he knew how to cure Luther, but at the same time, she understood not wanting to be looked down in disappointment. And felt like it was worse for Luther who always seemed to be perfect.

"But you'll die." She heard herself whisper due to her lungs feeling like they were being crushed together. The memories of Five and Ben never coming back to the mansion awoke the dread in her heart as Luther looked like he was about to discover the same fate.

"No. No. It'll pass. It'll pass." Luther assured her, despite not looking convincing in his dirt covered, sweat drenched furry body. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have come here, but-"

"No. No, no, no!" Vanya held his hand as tightly as she could so he could feel her. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here." Despite the stench that Luther had, she hugged him, crying in relief that he was okay.

Luther couldn't hold back his own tears at the affection he hadn't felt in years. He hugged her back gently. They cried in each others arms until Vanya felt her emotions stabilize a bit, and she knew she had to help Luther. She knew her couch was too small for Luther's massive body, so she moved the coffee table, and pushed the couch against the door. She went into her room, removed the items on her bed so she could lift the mattress and with her tiny body, push it out onto the living room floor.

There, she covered the mattress again before having Luther use what little strength he had to get on it. She turned up the heater, covered Luther's body with the many blankets she had, and helped him drink plenty of water. She didn't want to give Luther medication for fear of it making the sickness worse.

She panicked when Luther seemed to not be awake any longer. She put her face near his face and felt his breath against her skin. She sighed in relief, crying again as her grief continued to fill her dread.

O.O.O

Luther woke up feeling strangely groggy and soaked in sweat but also very comfortable on something soft. He opened his eyes but his vision was too blurry to help him comprehend what was happening. He fell back to sleep. When he woke up again, he felt something cool against his forehead, and something close to his lips. The sweet taste of water eased his minor troubles. He then breathed in the warm air for a moment and then went back into the black tranquil darkness.

The next thing he knew, he heard a buzzing sound and something cool yet sharp was near his face. He felt a small weight drop from his head and he felt the air become a lot cooler. The lack of the cool metal against his face dulled his senses to slumber again.

"Number one!" Luther heard his father called out to him in a room that seemed to spin. "Number one! What's wrong with you?! Why can't you do something as simple as this! You were supposed to be the best! You were supposed to be Number one! I am deeply disappointed in you."

Luther suddenly found himself in the jungle, but looking clearly at his surroundings, he wasn't in the jungle, he was in a zoo exhibit. He ran over to the glass wall, turning into a badly stitched together chimp-boy. He looked into the darkness of the otherside, and his thirteen-year-old siblings walk out of it and stared at him with either horrified or laughing expressions.

"No!" he punched the glass repeatedly like a mad animal who craved freedom. "No! No! NO!"

He sat up abrupty, screaming.

"Luther?!" Vanya cried out from the couch in the darkness. "Luther!" She got up and went over to the lightswitch to help him understand where he was.

Luther looked around quickly, trying to grasp where he was. When he looked over to Vanya, his memories were repaired. He regulated his breathing and told her, "I'm sorry."

"Do-don't be." She went over to him. "And I should be the one apologizing." Luther looked at her confused. "I shaved your beard and hair because you smelled really bad."

Luther touched his cheek and did not feel long thick hair. He touched his face and head to only feel prickly cheeks and scalp. He looked down at his torso to see that it was still deformed to look similar to that of a gorilla's. He felt sick to his stomach at the sight of himself that he hugged himself to cover such a terrible sight.

Vanya didn't know exactly what to say at that moment because she didn't know Luther. At least not in the way Allison did. But she knew that she shouldn't remain quiet.

"You look fine."

Luther looked at her with furrowed brows.

Vanya tried to back up her words, "I went back to the mansion, and Pogo told me what happened. I can't imagine how horrifying it must've been, but...you don't look that bad. It took some getting used to at first because you were always.." She realized that she went down the wrong way in this supposed-to-be-comforting conversation. But she figured she should try, "in a way perfect. And honestly, this new look doesn't really change that." She sat down on the end of the couch near him.

Luther remained looking at her with immense confusion. He tried to understand how she could think something insane like that. He was a monster. The reminder of that made him look away.

Vanya then figured she should pull her card, "I guess because I was the freak of the family, I don't mind this body so much."

Luther looked at her again with confusion. The two haven't met in years, and he honestly didn't remember her being...this talkative. Then again, he never really had many chances to talk to her because their so-called father rather have him not do that, and he obeyed that man.

"What are you talking about, Vanya?" He inquired.

The seventh child inwardly sighed. "Did you ever got to read my book?"

Luther then just remembered and he understood. He sighed, letting his arms down. Vanya had already seen this for who knows how long, and there was no point of covering up. He was still immensely uncomfortable though. Yet Vanya used the blanket she had been using to cover Luther up. It made it easier for Luther to think properly after being provided this shield.

He looked to her with uncertainty, yet he knew what had to be done. "Vanya...I'm sorry that you felt that way growing up. I did not know how hard it was for you-"

"It's okay. It's all in the past."

"No. Let me say this." Luther faced her. Vanya's jaw went slack at the face that was never given to her: remorse. "You didn't deserve to be ignored or treated the way that you were, and I'm sorry that I disappointed you. It was never my intention to make you feel like you weren't part of the family."

Vanya blurted, "You didn't do that." She immediately wanted to take back the words because she knew that she would have to open up about the complicated parts of her past that she may have to reword to make sense. "I was upset with you. With all of you, especially after Five disappeared..." She felt her emotions light up that her reaction was to hide away and take a pill.

Luther nodded, sighing, "And dad hadn't found him yet, just as he hadn't found me yet despite still being in this city for months with the news watching me...You were right, Vanya. We were never truly a family. Surviving off the streets, I saw fathers playing catch with their sons. I saw mothers shopping with their daughters. And we never had that with dad or mom. These past few months made me realize that I sacrificed my life, my happiness for a man who didn't care the same way. I wish I had left with the rest of you."

Vanya stared at Luther. It donned on her that Luther was the one who gave her hope that the man who pushed her away could've loved her like a father should if only she was special. But with Luther now before her, the man who once perfect yet now broken and disfigured into some "failure" by their father, she felt that hope shatter, and that flooded her with relief. She took a deep breath, and it was difficult to push down the foreign emotion she felt, but she didn't want to reject it. Just let it drip into her.

"Well...You're out now." Vanya reminded him, and was able to give him a small smile when he looked at her curiously. "Do you want breakfast?"

Luther who had been surviving off of stealing food and rummaging the garbage nodded. Vanya got up and went over to her tiny kitchen to bring out some cereal and milk. Luther looked over her apartment to see that the couch was pushed against the door. He had to ask, "How long have I been out?"

"Uhm, About a week. Your fever died down on the first night, and you slept soundly for the next few days. I used the fire escape from my bedroom window to get to rehearsals." She handed him the bowl and spoon. Luther thanked her and consumed the cereal in practically one gulp without letting a single drop go. Once done, he let out a loud BURP! Vanya was surprised and figured she needed to buy a month's worth of food to feed this man for a day. She inquired, "What have you been doing for the past few months?"

"Uuuuhm, sleeping under bridges during the day, rummaging through trash during the night, hiding from people until they needed saving."

"Just like the night you saved me."

Luther nodded to that.

Vanya then asked, "Would you like to take a shower? My bathroom is small, but I have a shower hose, and the floor has a drain, so it's okay if you get the floor wet."

"Uuuh, yeah. I'd like that. Sorry about stinking up the place, and..." He looked at the ditch he made. "...ruining your matress."

Vanya waved it off with a small smile. "It's alright. The couch is actually pretty comfortable, and you needed it more. Uhm, I'll have the towels and clothes ready for you outside the door. I hope you don't mind plus size sweaters."

Luther sighed in immense gratitude, "They would be so much better than garbage bags." He got up, keeping the blankets around him as he went over to the bathroom. It was a bit small, but not uncomfortably that Luther was able to take decent shower while Vanya cleaned up the mess, he left behind. She was so glad she knew life hacks on how to get the stench and stains off.

Once Luther was done, he walked back into the living room in a pair of sweat pants and the plus size sweater. Miraculously, they fit very well. He was welcomed to Vanya practicing the violin. She stopped and put it down when she saw him.

"That sounds beautiful." He complimented with a well-meaning smile.

Vanya gave back a shy smile, not sure what her emotions were doing, but it wasn't too unpleasant. "Thanks."

The room was becoming filled with silence, that Luther spoke, "Uhm, well, I'm sorry for being an inconvenience to you, Vanya. I am grateful for all you have done for me."

"You did save my life." Vanya pointed out. "And what's family for."

"Yeah..." Luther wondered if that word "Family" could be used between them after not being much of one before, but it was the only appropriate word to truly use at the moment so he accepted it. "I guess I should be going now."

"To where?" Vanya inquired worriedly. "You're not going back out in the streets are you? Even if you're not, don't tell me that you're going back to dad after everything he did to you."

Luther sighed, "I can't run away anymore. I may not be number one anymore, but I still have a duty to uphold."

"Duty? What duty?"

"Saving the world. Maybe I can't be the same hero I used to be, but dad may figure out other uses for me."

"You don't need dad for that." Vanya walked over to him. "Luther, how can you save people's lives and not call yourself a hero? You saw it for yourself out there what real fathers and mothers are like. You also saw firemen, policemen and other people acting as heroes every day without dad's jurisdiction. Luther, you don't need dad to make you a hero. You never stopped being one even after you left him."

"He might still need me even if he doesn't care for me."

"Even if dad did need you, then he would've came for you months ago. Dad knows that you've been in this city alone and afraid for months, and he didn't do anything."

"Maybe he didn't do anything because he thought I wasn't ready to see him."

"Bullshit!" Vanya felt something hot inside her and it surprised her, and shocked Luther a bit. "Sorry, I just...Luther, at least not yet."

"Not yet?"

"I mean..." Vanya didn't know she could feel this desperate, or if that was even the right word for this moment, but she knew that she had to stop Luther from what was an obvious mistake. Their father was a monster, and she could see it clearly that Luther was in denial of that just as she had been at times when she let herself be naive. "Don't you want to have a second life?"

"Second life? What do you mean?"

"Come with me." She moved to get the couch out of the way from the door, but Luther did it instead. The two walked out of the apartment, and she bought Luther to a bookstore where she bought him to the comic book section. The young violinist revealed, "After I left the mansion, I was lucky to be able to land a job as a third seat violinist for Stravinsky's orchestra."

"That has nothing to do with luck. You were always amazing with the violin. Every time I think back to our childhood, the image of you playing the violin is so clear in my mind because you practiced it for hours on end. That's not luck. That's talent. I was envious that you were allowed to do something you were passionate about and stick with it." Luther said this as he was scanning the comic books since he had never been able to see so many colorful drawn pieces of art from different perspectives.

He didn't realize how much his words resonated with Vanya who was speechless. She didn't know what this odd crushing yet good feeling was happening in her chest, and she chose to ignore it by focusing on why she bought him here in the first place. "Uhm...I bought you here so you can see how other heroes in fiction live double lives. One that is normal and the other being...super." She pulled a simple Superman comic off the shelves. "When I got my second paycheck, I came over here since I couldn't afford cable. Dad didn't allow us to have comic books, and I guess he didn't want you guys to be inspired to live a life of your own outside of being the umbrella academy."

Luther flipped through the pages, skimming the story that showed an alien blending in with society but also acting as the hope of the world.

Vanya continued, "It's a work of fiction, but they can be inspirational if you pick the right writer." She pulled out the Fantastic 4 comic, and flipped it to the page that concentrated on the Thing. And also the Hellboy, Doom Patrol, the X-men, Teen Titans, Deadpool comics and more to show Luther a world where "ugly" or "deformed" superheroes have hardships, but all that truly mattered was doing good at the end of the day and finding a real family that accepted him.

The two of them spent hours flipping through books at that bookstore, talking about the storyline and such. Luther looked like a child again as he read them avidly. Vanya bought him a couple to read later on. She then had them buy chinese food. Luckily, she didn't have to eat much to get full compared to Luther who had barely eaten for the last several months.

"So you're favorite is the X-men?" Vanya found that ironic. "I thought you'd choose Superman or Captain America."

"I like them." Luther assured her. "But after...this." He referred to his body. "I connect with the Beast in the X-men. Not just because of...this, but because he believes in the good of the people and that things can become better for him and his kind no matter what happens to him. And he also has his lows, but he always overcomes them."

Vanya found that cute and she was happy that Luther was able to open his mind to a whole other world even if it was fictional. "For the x-men, my favorite is Emma Frost."

"Emma Frost? Isn't she the villain?"

"Kind of." Vanya gave a small smirk, though it turned to a smile since she was excited to actually open up about her interest to someone in such a long time, "She starts off as a villain, but she does help out the good guys in the end. I don't know. I like her because she's confident, strong, smart and unapologetic for who she is. I like that about her."

"Unapologetic for who she is." Luther nodded to that. "Wish I could have that mentality, too."

Vanya rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." The former leader wondered if he should be open about this. Especially to someone who wrote a book on their family. Then again, she's already seen all this for a week, and he did have some things he needed to get off his chest. Months ago, he would keep them buried, but he was tired of being locked up with the key dangling from his fingers. "You wrote in your book that I was this Mister Perfect. Whatever I did, I did it effortlessly. Truth is, I was never good enough..."

"What?"

"Yeah...uhm...Dad would praise me in front of you guys, but behind closed doors, he always told me why couldn't I do better...uhm...Why couldn't I step up to the missions. Why couldn't I keep a better hold of the team. He would tell me that Diego's an insolent child but at least he had drive. Why couldn't I be as influential as Allison. I should be able to be better than what she had the power to do. He'd blame me for Klaus' misbehaviors, scolded me for showing an inch of attitude that reminded him of Five, and blamed me for Ben's death. And tell me that you," He looked to Vanya, "were one of his great disappointments, but I was close to replacing you in that category..."

Vanya was speechless.

Luther continued, "I tried and tried. Every praise I got, it was followed by a disappointed remark. I was..." The twenty-five year old felt words thread together in sentences he never thought that he would ever think, much less say, "...obsessed with getting his approval because it felt like I was so close. Every time I felt like I've reached the peak, everything crumbles and I have to try even harder and harder to the point that it didn't matter that I couldn't breathe. It didn't matter that I was alone in that mansion with no one to talk to for the last eight years of my life."

"You still had Pogo and mom." Vanya pointed out.

"Yeah..." Luther inwardly sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to dump this all on you."

"No. No, no, no. Uhm, I never realized that. I'm the one who should apologize. Wow. I thought you had it easier compared to the rest of us, but...What the fuck."

"It's nothing compared to yours, and I was the leader. It's only natural that I be treated that way, so I could be the best I could be. Dad isn't like other dads, then again I'm not like other men."

"That...isn't right." Vanya can't believe that they just came back to what happened this morning. "Luther...Would you like to see a friend of mine?"

"A friend?" Luther didn't understand why Vanya would suggest this out of the blue.

"Yeah. I think she's someone who you can talk to about what you've been through these past several months, and help you recreate a double life. I talk to her from time to time, and it helps a lot. Would you like to talk to her?" Vanya looked at him hopefully.

Luther was still unsure of why Vanya seem to really want him to talk to this friend, but he supposed that it was fine. "Okay?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next day, Vanya had Luther follow her to the park. "So it turns out my friend is on vacation but she had another friend we can talk to."

"Vanya, what is this really about?"

"What do you mean?" She lamely inquired.

Luther frowned at her. "You know what I mean, Vanya. Who am I really meeting? I don't like surprises."

"Uhm..."

"Hey!" In came a short woman with big brown eyes and light brown skin, long silky black hair and an hour glass to boot. She wore a plaid shirt with a white top inside and casual jeans. "Halo Fleming at your service." She reached her hand out to Luther who gave his name and shook her hand with brows furrowed. "By your expression, Vanya didn't actually tell you why you're here." Luther shook his head. Halo gave a disapproving look to Vanya who looked down in shame. She looked back to Luther with a well-meaning smile, "You look like a forthright man, so let's clear the air. I'm a social worker who specializes in counseling, and don't worry. I'm not here to dissect your life with a critical eye. I'm just here to be an ear for you. I'm well aware of what your life was like through Vanya's eyes, but I bet there's more to the story that not many have heard of."

Luther did not feel comfortable at first, but Halo was being very pleasant and professional without being overbearing with calmness or intelligence. It felt safe. He hated how Vanya roped him into this through deception, but he reasoned that after being so open last night, of course she would do this.

"I got food!"

And that was a very good offering.

Vanya left the two to their picnic on the snow, and Halo had a lot prepared since the violinist warned her about his appetite. They ate first and Luther gobbled up her twelve hotdogs, thermos of hot soup, whole bag of blueberry bagels, and practically inhaled her two eggsalads before drinking half a gallon of water.

She just enjoyed her curry.

"So did you watch television as a kid?" She started the talk.

Luther burped first, excusing himself before answering, "No. Dad never liked it. He rather have us listening to professors and other professionals talk over the radio."

"Mm, educational. You know, I've read the Umbrella Academy comics and watched the news about you guys. You guys really seemed like a team. But I bet there was a lot of strife growing up and only having your siblings around."

"Uhm..." Luther thought back to his childhood, and there really was a lot to unpack. He started off with how they were born, and then the whole story seamed itself together by itself. He talked about Pogo, Grace, his siblings, Reginald, the missions- everything that happened before, "I carried him in my arms, running as fast as I could to mom and dad so they could save his life. I thought they could even though I knew I was holding a corpse in my arms. The heat I thought I could still feel was just my own, and the eyes I thought was still looking at me, was just the eyes of everyone else who saw the murderer I was. I was the one who ordered Ben to do what had to be done, and in return, I destroyed the Umbrella Academy. Dad would tell me that they left because they couldn't handle the mission. That Diego couldn't handle me being Number 1. And in my foolish misguided selfish anger, I believed him, but the truth is, I failed them as a leader, and they knew they couldn't rely on me anymore..."

Luther stared at the grassy ground, remembering Ben's lifeless torn body.

He was pulled back by a hand on his arm. He looked to his side to remember that he was talking to Halo. "Uhm yeah, no, it's not your fault."

"What?"

"It's not your fault." She told him plain and clear. "The person at fault is that so-called dad of yours. Luther! Your dad is a monster!"

"Okay, hold on-"

"Hold on for what? Luther, wake up!" She snapped her fingers at him. "Look around you! There are kids playing on the swings. There are kids running around playing tag. There are kids getting hurt, but they have their parents closeby to help them. Kids are not meant to be locked up in a mansion and trained to be soldiers!"

"It's not that simple!"

"What? Because you have powers? That doesn't take away your right be treated like a human being."

Luther was silent, yet he was obviously still trying to argue.

Halo huffed, "C'mon." She got up, taking her basket, and walking away. She looked back to see a confused Luther. "C'mon." She gestured him to follow and he did, taking the blanket with him. She got them in her van, and she drove them to an abandoned building. And oddly, in her van, she had a big mirror and a mallet. "So my methods are unconventional, but you've lived an unconventional lifestyle, so unconventional means comes to simple solutions." She set the mirror upagainst one of thewalls and placed the mallet on the floor near it. She reached into her pocket to take out an ear comm. Luther put it on, not sure what she was getting at even though it was obvious.

She walked out of the building, and drove away. She turned on her own comm and talked to him, "Luther, can you hear me?"

"Yes? But what am I supposed to do?"

"Let out your aggression. After hearing your story, it's obvious that you've never let yourself get angry. You never once argued, yelled, or thrown a tantrum, and why is that?"

"Because it's not how a leader should act."

"But it's how children should act. If one does not act on emotions at a young age and be disciplined afterwards, they can't form the empathy or the sympathy that a leader should have because you aren't just leading soldiers, Luther. You're leading individuals with their own dreams and hopes. Do you know why your siblings left the academy?"

"Because...Because Ben died."

"But why would they leave after Ben died."

"Because I failed as their leader."

"And why would you say that?"

"Because a leader should be able to keep a team together."

"A team of what exactly? Who were each and every one of those members. What were their hopes and dreams?"

"We were a team of superpowered individuals born on the same day and adopted by our father, Reginald Hargreeves. Number 2, Diego, The Kraken, has the power to hold his breath under water and curve his trajectory. He wanted to be Number One, but because he couldn't do be, he left."

"Are you sure about that? If that was the case, then why leave when Ben died? He could've left any other time. He could've taken your position after you failed. But he chose to leave at that time. It sounds like you have a lot of agression against this sibling, so I can see why you'd think of the worse of him, but there has to be good sides to him, too. Can you remember them?"

Luther didn't want to do this, but he wasn't a quitter. He dug deep into his memories for the good side of this asshole. "He...was attached to our mother, Grace."

"The android mom."

"Yeah...He always spent a lot of time with her. Ha. Diego actually had a stuttering problem, but mom helped him through it. And he could be a dick, always provoking a fight out of me when we were kids, but he never let that get ahead of the mission. I knew I could always count on him when I needed him."

"What about him and Reginald?"

"Dad never liked Diego for his attitude, and Diego never much liked dad either."

"So he never liked your dad, never was fond of you, but he loved his mom and still played for the team. But he left, and I don't expect you to know exactly why, but from what I hear, he wanted to be his own man, and he couldn't do that under you, under Reginald. So maybe, and I'm just saying maybe, maybe he didn't leave because you failed as a leader, but because he realized he didn't want to die without being his own person. I mean you guys were sixteen going on seventeen. It's what teenagers are supposed to do."

Luther felt something open inside his mind. He...never thought of it that way. He was speechless, and Halo allowed him a couple of minutes to process that before calling out to him again, "Luther?"

"Uhm...yeah?"

"Who was number 3?"

The number helped Luther lighten up a little. "Number 3, Allison, The Rumor, has the ability to warp someone's reality with her rumors. She always wanted to be a star."

"Just like now with her multiple awards for her star-wiinning acting in the movies, on broadway and more. I bet she wouldn't have been able to live such a life if she stayed in the academy."

Another door opened in Luther's mind. "You're right."

"And Number 4?"

Luther inwardly groaned, letting out a heavy sigh. "Number 4, Klaus, The Seance, has the ability to communicate with the dead, but since we were kids, he has been taking intoxicating himself in order to stop using his powers."

"Sounds like you don't like this sibling either."

"Klaus is...Klaus."

"Aaaah, the eccentric sibling you can't quite understand but have to get along with because of your parents. Gotcha. But to intoxicate himself at such a young age? Now why would he do that?"

"Because he couldn't handle the pressure of being part of the Umbrella academy."

"Any normal child would feel that pressure, but maybe there's more to this story. Was there anything weird that happened during your childhood?"

Luther took a moment to think because these talks have been enlightening for him. He doubted he could think of anything, but then he remembered one particular odd event. "There was this one time when dad and Klaus were gone for several days at a time, and every time he came back, he seemed less...Klaus, but soon after he'd be back to being himself, but little by little, I began to realize that he had been intoxicating himself. At the time, I thought it was fine since dad didn't do anything about it, and I figured he would when the time came."

"That's terrifying, especially considering how your dad treated Vanya and you behind closed doors. Who knows what he must've did to Klaus. What with the powers to see the dead. With the crime rate in this city, there aren't that many happy ones still walking among us. I mean look at what he did to you after your last mission at the chemical site that made it in the news."

Luther felt a dangerous door open in his head. He stepped back, tripping yet his back hit against the wall behind him. His pulse picked up and his breathing shortened yet quickened as he began to perspire.

"Luther? Luther?"

"Y-yes." He took a moment to control himself.

"I know it's going to be hard, but I need you to remove your sweater."

"My what?"

"Your sweater. If you want to see a point to this exercise, you will need to remove the sweater."

Luther was hesitant, feeling hidden eyes on him. He took a moment to feel the comfort of the shield the sweater somewhat provided, and then removed it to reveal his deformed body. He took a good look at himself in the mirror, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He felt disconnected from this body that he could move.

"Okay." He let Halo know he did what she ordered.

"Okay." She said gently, and then firmly told him, "Now who is the man in the mirror?"

Luther wasn't sure what the correct answer was but he replied the predictable one, "Number One, Luther, Spaceboy, has the power of super strength. He...never left the academy."

"Why?"

"Because..." Reginald was at the forefront of his mind, and then he could see his siblings behind the man. But instead of wearing the Umbrella Academy uniform, they wore what was fitting for their own individual being. As for him, he wasn't himself. He wasn't what he wanted to be. He took another good look at himself, but imagined the former person he was, "I was Number One."

"And who is Number One?"

"Leader of the Umbrella Academy, Reginald's favorite, and...a boy who wanted to become an astronaut. A boy who wanted to go out to space and see what's out there."

"And why didn't he do that?"

"Because it was my mission to save the world."

"Who gave you that mission?"

"Reginald."

"Reginald who?"

"My...My father. The man who adopted me. The man who...made me feel special. Made me feel like I had a purpose to play. The man who...saved my life."

"You say father, but what I hear is master. Did he ever wanted you to address him as father in the first place?"

"...No."

"And this man who adopted you. Did he adopt you because he wanted to have a son in the first place, or did he adopt you just to fulfill this purpose you speak of."

"To fulfill this purpose I speak of, but I became a son to him."

"You say that, but this man didn't want you to refer to him as his father. Luther, you keep contradicting your own words. You already know who Reginald Hargreeves is, but you keep trying to put a mask over this man, and for what? To make sure all you've done had meaning? To who? For what? For a man who does not see himself as your father, so never saw you as his son. And adoption is only a legal form of taking a child away from their mother. You weren't adopted Luther. You were taken and experimented on, and brainwashed you to believe that what he wants was what you wanted, too, but that was never the case."

"NO!" Luther felt his mind spiralling as he tried to fabricate a truth that wasn't there. "No. I wanted to save the world."

"You wanted to be an astronaut. You only took up the leadership position, not because it was the right thing to do, but because it meant that you had Reginald's attention, but you never once were given an 'I love you'. You were never referred to as his son. You weren't even given a name! Even after everyone left, did he ever call you Luther?"

"It's just a name. It's just a name!"

"A name that gave you an identity! A name that did not rank you and practically ostracized you from your family! A family trapped in a mansion should at least be aware of the pains of each other, and work through that, but that never happened! Instead Reginald pit you guys against each other! You never realized the pain that Vanya was going through or that Klaus or Ben or anyone else was going through because Reginald kept you away from that! That is the reason why you failed as a leader! Reginald kept you away from the world, kept you away from your siblings, and now even destroyed you!" Her voice became soft, "The little boy who wanted to be an astonaut, but now you're a man without a family or a friend, without a purpose since that man abandoned you, and not even a name that carries an identity that stands on its own outside in this world like you deserved as a human being. So I ask you this what has that man done, what has he given you since for all his failures against you! NOTHING!"

Luther felt something snap inside him as every single memory he thought was filled with affection was smashed and pummeled to reveal the truth behind it all. He grabbed the mallet that was on the floor and smashed the mirror along with the wall. He swung that mallet in every direction, letting out a roar that stretched for miles.

"Luther!" Vanya watched as that tall abandoned building crumble down. "Luther!"

"Wait, Vanya!" Halo called out to her. "He's fine. He has super strength remember."

"But he can still get hurt!" Vanya panicked.

"He needs it. He needs the pain to subdue his anger or else he'll go berserk on the rest of this city." Halo assured her, "He will be fine." Vanya honestly only met this woman today, but she didn't know what to do. She looked out to the mess again, not seeing a hand sticking out. "In fact," Halo grabbed her attention. "Let's talk. Your therapist and my friend told you to be open and creative about your anger, which led to you doing the worst thing: Writing your biography."

Vanya felt like she should remain concern about Luther, but the woman caught her intrigue, "Uhm, yeah."

"Well, as the professional, I would've let your anger out in other ways that was more controlled and less damaging. Otherwise if Luther had finally broke down out in the open, someone else might've gotten hurt, which is why I bought him here. Luther suffers from a god complex, a hero complex, body dysphoria, and the golden child abuse, and other psychological damages. Right now, I helped him unleash emotions he had supressed in order to please Reginald. The calm and collected Luther you know Vanya, is just a closed bottle of emotions. Not a person in control of them. Luther will need to have his body checked and given the proper medications if need be. I advise that you do the same as well."

"Me?"

"You've been taking pills that Reginald had prescribed you, and I've heard enough to know that he does nothing within the best interest of children. So my advice is that you get yourself clean off those pills for a good week before coming by my office to check if you need a better subscription. Don't worry, I won't charge my services until the old man kicks the bucket and leaves a possible inheritance." Halo smiled in an odd way that Vanya should be suspicious since Halo didn't seem the same way the first time they met, but then again, she was the professional.

"Okay?"

An arm popped out of the debri, catching the women's attention. "Luther!" Vanya ran over and carefully climbed and walked through the rubble to get to him. Luther pushed himself out and looked cut, bruised, dusty and exhausted. "Luther, I'm here!"

"Vanya?!" Luther squinted due to the dust on his eyelashes. "Vanya." He breathed as he was led carefully out of the rubble. He was put into the back of the van with Vanya sitting by his side, telling him that everything was going to be okay. He didn't listen to her, and told her, "I'm done making excuses for dad...for me. I hate myself, Vanya. I hate this body. I hated being left alone, and I thought I could hate you all for that, but I knew better and I can now accept that I can say that I was weak, and scared, and too stupid to leave that academy. I was stuck in the false glory of the umbrella academy, and I was too scared that whatever was waiting for me in the outside world could never measure up to that. That I could not make something of myself above being Number One. I have been in denial these past several months, but I recognize now that I was nothing to begin with and I'm nothing now."

"What are you saying?" Vanya looked at him tired and incredulous. "Forget what dad tried to make of you. He did not name you Luther. He did not give you dreams about going into outerspace. He did not teach you to care and love us, but you did. That was all you, Luther. I'm so sorry for what I said in my book. You're so much more than that. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry!"

Luther teared up with her, and the two cried together. They separated when they arrived at the hospital, but Vanya stayed at the waiting room, unable to feel easy. She wanted to take a pill, but Halo asked for them, and Vanya gave the bottles to her. The social worker then rubbed her back as she waited in agony.

When Luther was available for visitors, she rushed by his side, and the two comforted each other with their childhood abuse and then reminiscing the sweeter memories of Klaus' shenanigans, Ben's love of ice cream, Allison's narcissism, Diego's ridiculous bad boy attitude and even what little they remembered about Five. They talked about Grace and Pogo, and laughed together over so many other things they never got to talk together about.

While they did this, Halo talked with the doctor that examined Luther. "So doctor Tala, diagnosis?"

The doctor looked through the papers on her clipboard with her onyx eyes behind eyeglasses. She was six feet tall with olive skin, long shiny black hair tied in a high ponytail, and had eyebags to show how worn out her job made her. "As I've always remarked, Reginald is a stupid genius. The serum he injected this man with mutated his DNA to become more compatible with a chimp's than a human being. And it gets dumber when comparing his medical results that were taken in a previous incident that landed him in a hospital before Reginald took him. His mutant DNA that gave him super strength and near invulnerability appears to have minimize."

"He's been weakened." Halo nodded in understanding. "That explains why he took more damage from that collapsed building than expected." She sighed. "Maybe Keane's science can save his strength, considering what we're planning."

Tala sighed, "For the 36."

Halo repeated sadly, "For the 36."


End file.
